In the past two to three decades, the crop yields obtained by American farmers and commercial agricultural companies have increased due to a number of factors, among them being scientific crop rotation, use of chemical fertilizers to stimulate crop plant growth, and also the use of various herbicidal compounds to kill unwanted weeds and grasses which compete with crop plants for soil nutrients. Examples of various herbicidal compounds which have been used in recent years include commercially available thiolcarbamate products such as Sutan.RTM., Ordram.RTM., Eptam.RTM., Knoxweed.RTM., Ro-Neet.RTM., Vernam.RTM., and the like. These herbicides are toxic to a large number of weeds when applied in varying concentrations for both pre-emergence and postemergent control. Particularly effective herbicides are the aforementioned Sutan.RTM. and Vernam.RTM. which are thiolcarbamates which have been found to be especially useful on controlling weeds in corn and soybeans, respectively. The thiolcarbamates, used alone or admixed with other herbicides, such as triazines, are used extensively at the present time.
A problem which as arisen in conjunction with the use of these compounds is that at herbicidally effective concentrations, the compounds have a tendency to injure and restrict the growth of the desired crop plant such as corn, soybeans, and the like.
Various attempts have been made to eliminate this problem by way of development of chemical compounds known as antidotes which are normally applied to the soil at the time of planting of the seeds and which are effective in protecting the crop plant from damage as a consequence of the application of a herbicide.
Examples of such herbicide antidote compositions which are commercially available include Eradicane.RTM., Sutan.RTM.+, and Surpass.RTM.+. These compositions and compounds are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,137,070 and 4,021,224. Other such antidote compounds are constantly being sought in order to provide a wider choice of available compounds which would be advantageous from an economic or efficacy standpoint, relative to the specific herbicide with which they are used, or the specific crop plant sought to be protected.